Thursday, May 30, 2013

My friend brought me these from his recent trip to France, WHAT A GOOD FRIEND! lol
This is such a random flavor for France; Bolognaise or Bolognese sauce. A Bolognese, if you aren't aware, is an Italian meat-based sauce made from ground beef, tomato, and a bit of onion, celery, and carrot. However, most countries outside of Italy consider any tomato-based sauce with a bit of meat in it to be a Bolognese. These chips from France make no reference to the sauce or meat on the outside and just show the tomato and herbs to identify these as a Bolognese flavor. I can tell you right now, this bag doesn't taste like an authentic Italian ragu, but that doesn't mean a thing, these are still mighty good chips. The flavor that you get is more like fresh pizza sauce. You get a really bright, tangy, herb-y, and spicy combination of flavors. It reminded me of a coal brick oven thin crust pizza that I ate recently with chunks of fresh tomatoes and herbs. In fact the thin and somewhat flaky texture of the French chips was a great substitute for a thin crust pizza dough. The chip has a decent amount of potato flavor, but this seasoning is just enough to make you forget about the potato taste... without completely overwhelming it. The texture of the chips is comparable to the ones you find here in the States.I like flavors like this because they can appeal to a lot of chip lovers out there; If you like BBQ flavors I think you will like the tangy flavor, and if you like acidic flavors like Vinegar, I think you will like the bright tomato kick these have. I loved it, and was really happily surprised to have enjoyed it so much. I know France has a lot of unique flavors, but this one shouldn't be ignored. Tasty!

Have you tried this bag? Did you think it tasted like a "Bolognese"? or more like a "Marinara"? Sound off in the comments below.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Gorgeous looking new collection from Lay's France... the Tapas Collection.
This line has 2 flavors in it as of now, "Olive" and "Pesto"; both flavors just sound EXTREMELY delicious. I would love to try an Olive flavored chip!
My friend just got back from France and brought me some great chips to review here soon, but these weren't out yet. So I'm gonna have to beg him to go back lol!
Looking good, France! I am Mighty jealous!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Walkers has announced a new flavour! YAYYYYYY!!!! Im so excited!!
The winner of Walkers "Do Us A Home Grown Flavour" contest was Marie Boxall with her "Hog Roast with Sage and Onion Stuffing". mmmmmmm.
That just sounds so good!
Walkers announced the contest in conjunction with new marketing of Walkers as home grown products. Each bag in the Walkers range highlights a main ingredient that has been grown locally within the UK. Marie's choice of Hog Roast will highlight the Pork raised in her hometown of Norfolk. The potatoes are also grown in the UK. This bag of chips will be available beginning in August and will be exclusive to Tesco markets. I can't wait until August for the hunt to begin!!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Another day, Another contest!
Lay's Peru is hosting their own create-a-flavor contest now; "Un Sabor Para Ganar!" or "A Flavor to Win!"
If you live in Peru, just go on http://www.lays.com.pe/ and enter. Peru already has some pretty interesting flavors in their range and they use all sorts of different Peruvian potatoes in some of their lines, so it seems they are bound to come up with some extraordinary flavors.
Not only are they using the cutting board logo for this contest (which started here in the USA with our first create-a-flavor contest), but they will also now be using the new US style bag with the colored edges and white center that we saw Cheesy Garlic Bread etc wearing. On the contest interface the contestants can select the color for the packaging, colors that include Orange, Green, Purple, and Royal Blue. Then just type in the Flavor and Description, and submit. The site does not, however, support putting an image of the related food item on the bag. Still, this is another chance to grab some new flavors! So, Rejoice!

Thursday, May 16, 2013

The other day I saw this chocolate bar at Cost Plus World Market and decided to try it out. The packaging is SUPER sexy. Chocolate covered chips in a sparkly yellow packaging. It just looked amazing. The chocolate itself is a really smooth Milk Chocolate, and it mixed with fine Potato Chip crumbs and salt. I thought of it as a really elevated Crunch bar. In place of the rice puffs you find the salted potato chip bits. The chocolate melted so perfectly and then you get these yummy crispy flavorful bits, it was just SO friggin good. I had a few other flavors from this brand, but this bar was the best by far. Highly recommended!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Lay's USA has crowned their winner! Cheesy Garlic Bread, the brain child of Karen Weber-Mendham, has been chosen by the fans as their favored flavor. Cheesy Garlic Bread gave fans the uncanny feeling they were eating a fresh loaf of Garlic Bread and quickly became the standout flavor among the 3 competitors.

The prize not only includes huge bragging rights, but Ms. Weber-Mendham was also the recipient of a cool 1 million dollar check. Not too shabby. Congratulations to her, and congrats to us, hopefully Cheesy Garlic Bread will remain on shelves for quite a long time.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Another giftie from Lay's Canada! I'm not the biggest Stax fan, because to me they taste spot on like Pringles. But, my lovely cousin brought me these as a gift, and I had to try them. This'll be a quick review... We're all pretty familar with Cheddar flavored chips, they're nothing new. These are REALLY cheesy, and at first I thought they weren't anything special. I had a few more chips and started to taste something a little strange. Then I started to feel a little strange. I couldn't pinpoint what it was, but I knew I knew that taste. I flipped the can over and one of the first ingredients was Monosodium glutamate aka MSG. While these taste very similar to Cheddar Pringles, the MSG gives it a ZIP that you wouldn't find in a can of "chips" here in the states. My mom is allergic to MSG and I can be a bit sensitive to it, so for some this can be a really scary ingredient. If MSG is something you can tolerate easily, you will find these to be much more flavorful than the US counterpart. As for the chips... they aren't really chips, so I hate to call them that, but they taste exactly like the potato in Pringles or even the Lay's Stax here at home; those types of chips rarely have flavor inconsistencies. If you are a Cheddar Pringle lover, you will likely enjoy the potent cheese flavor in these.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

You know people love you when they bring you bags of chips when they come visit you in the US, lol. My cousin sweetly brought me these little beauties on her quick trip over from Canada. Lay's Canada produces a pretty good chip and a great range of flavors, but one of the stand out gems is Ketchup flavor. Canada is the only country on our side of the pond to offer Ketchup flavor, so obviously, I get excited when I see it.
The chip itself is yummy, it has a good texture, much better than what is available in the US. It has a moderate potato flavor; it's not overwhelming but not totally devoid of potato taste either. This lends itself well to the Ketchup flavor because a few bites reminded me of fries and ketchup at McDonald's (maybe with a hint of those tiny chopped onions, mmm).
The Ketchup is tangy, sweet, and strong. The flavor is rich, and there is no mistaking that you are eating a Ketchup flavored chip. These are such a fun flavor, and I wish we had them here in the States, but I love knowing it is available in most other countries... and it's kind of fun to chase them down while on vacation. If you haven't ever had Ketchup flavored Lay's before, do yourself a favor. They're awesome!

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The Chip Report is an attempt to taste every Frito-Lay chip around the world. We're here to talk about international flavors and marketing, compare them to the status-quo here at home, and track down hard to find bags like a scavenger hunt. You can join in too, let us know about bags of chips you've come across in your travels!

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Looking for info about a particular flavor? Use the search bar to find what you seek. Want to browse similar flavors? Each entry is tagged by Style of Chip, Country of Origin, Flavors/Ingredients, and Type of Entry (i.e. Review or News etc.)... if you want to see more, just click on the tag that peaks your curiosity. Stories about new flavors being released are usually labeled "Gotta Get At This". Stories about new contests being held around the world are labeled "Contest". Reviews are labeled simply by bag name.Enjoy!